With over half a million raised in international fund-raising efforts, ABB has donated over US$100,000 to Gawad Kalinga to help rebuild houses and communities in the worst-hit regions.

The homes in the ABB village will follow the in the colorful designs of Gawad Kalinga's previous developments.

In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, ABB began a worldwide fund-raising effort to help those affected. Typhoon Haiyan was one of the most devastating tropical cyclones in history, affecting the lives of millions in the Philippines. As a response to the disaster, ABB employees from across the world pitched in and raised over US$500,000.

Of this, some US$100,000 (approximately PHP 4.5 million) was donated to Gawad Kalinga to help rebuild houses and communities in the most heavily affected parts of the Philippines, while the rest was donated by countries through their own local organizations and charities. Gawad Kalinga is a well-respected non-profit organization based in the Philippines that helps alleviate poverty.

The total funds were divided into two categories, reconstruction and livelihood, with approximately US$70,000 used to build homes for some 22 families at the Gahit Resettlement Site in the province of Negros Occidental. The site will be known as the ABB Global Village, with construction beginning in July this year. The new houses will be built to much higher construction standards, based on new government regulations, to be able to better withstand future typhoons.

Another US$30,000 was used to help the fisher folk of Sitio Betaug barangay in Lamanoc Merida, one of the hardest-hit areas in Western Leyte. The funds were used for the re-establishment of about 70 fishermen who lost their houses, boats and fishing equipment in the typhoon. Funds that were left over have been channeled to build boats for fishermen in the province of Eastern Samar.

“Typhoon Haiyan was one of the most devastating tropical storms the world has ever seen. Seven months in its wake, it's good to see the contributions of colleagues and countries have made a difference in rebuilding houses and infrastructure for those who suffered and lost so much. ABB believes that working in the community is an important aspect of its corporate responsibility, and this partnership with Gawad Kalinga is a solid reflection of that,” said Haider Rashid, region manager for ABB in South Asia.

In celebration of ABB’s 46th year anniversary in the Philippines, the subsidiary of Zurich-based ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd in collaboration with Gawad Kalinga (GK), officially broke ground on 30th July 2014 for the ABB Global Village in Brgy. Gahit, E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental for the beneficiaries of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims.

As part of the program, welcome remarks were given by Eric Villaruz, representing Mayor David Lacson, followed by a short overview of GK community set-up by Team GK. Then, a short talk on behalf of ABB in Philippines, Chito Majabague, gave an overview of ABB’s mission and vision as a company and our goal by 2015 and beyond to be a leading contributor to a more sustainable world and be recognized as a top performing company in terms of sustainable business practice.

Before the groundbreaking activity proper, Katrina Yermo, President of GK Kapitbahayan, one of the soon-to-be-beneficiaries; Bob Magalona, GK Head and Vincent Rivera, GK Area Coordinator, shared their insights and gave their inspirational messages on how GK, ABB and LGU has worked hand-in-hand to make this dream a soon-to-be reality.

Photo on left: Site where the future ABB Global Village will rise in Brgy. Gahit, E. B. Magalona, Negros Occidental in Western Visayas Philippines;
Photo on right: ABB in Philippines’, Chito Majabague giving a short talk on ABB’s history, vision and mission as a company.

Photo on left: Chito Majabague- ABB (middle) with Bob Magalona-GK (2nd from right) & Samantha Timtiman-ABB (rightmost) with the LGU representatives from the office of the Mayor David Lacson during the groundbreaking ceremony of the ABB Global Village.
Photo on right: ABB, GK & LGU representatives are flocked by GK ground team and some members of the GK Kapitbahayan, soon-to-be beneficiaries.

For ABB, sustainability is about balancing economic success, environmental stewardship and social progress to benefit all our stakeholders. This is now etched in the hearts of all who witnessed this milestone that indeed ABB is a company who envisions “power and productivity for a better world.”

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people.